Friedman on China

Democracy will constrain growth, will constrain short term development; this is an inevitable fact in a landscape where people have rights, where people have a say. Vocalization is not congruent with explosive growth; take a look at the chasm between India and China in their race to be the next global power. However, democracy will promote growth in the long-run; growth must be tied to the needs of the people, who are the true voice of government in a democratic society; this has failed to materialize in America in the recent years. Why? Our democracy is broken. Our broken infrastructure is a direct result of our broken democracy.
We must begin to be a country for the people, by the people; we must overcome the divisiveness, and look into the future, plan for the next generation, much as China has already done.

Thomas Friedman:

Seven years ... Seven years ... Oh, that’s right. China was awarded these Olympic Games on July 13, 2001 — just two months before 9/11.

As I sat in my seat at the Bird’s Nest, watching thousands of Chinese dancers, drummers, singers and acrobats on stilts perform their magic at the closing ceremony, I couldn’t help but reflect on how China and America have spent the last seven years: China has been preparing for the Olympics; we’ve been preparing for Al Qaeda. They’ve been building better stadiums, subways, airports, roads and parks. And we’ve been building better metal detectors, armored Humvees and pilotless drones.

The difference is starting to show. Just compare arriving at La Guardia’s dumpy terminal in New York City and driving through the crumbling infrastructure into Manhattan with arriving at Shanghai’s sleek airport and taking the 220-mile-per-hour magnetic levitation train, which uses electromagnetic propulsion instead of steel wheels and tracks, to get to town in a blink...
But the first rule of holes is that when you’re in one, stop digging. When you see how much modern infrastructure has been built in China since 2001, under the banner of the Olympics, and you see how much infrastructure has been postponed in America since 2001, under the banner of the war on terrorism, it’s clear that the next seven years need to be devoted to nation-building in America.